


I Was A Stranger And You Welcomed Me

by dorkilysoulless (custodian)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Acts of Kindness, Anal Sex, Bottom Castiel, Homeless Castiel, Human Castiel, Implied Castiel/Dean Winchester, M/M, omc perspective, paying for sex, possibly a little melancholy, showering together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-21
Updated: 2014-08-21
Packaged: 2018-02-14 03:26:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2176293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/custodian/pseuds/dorkilysoulless
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Whoever he is, he's either homeless or hitching.  He's also too damn pretty not to take home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Was A Stranger And You Welcomed Me

**Author's Note:**

> Written as a fill for [Hellatus Prompt Fic Tuesday](http://itfeltpurefic.tumblr.com/hellatus) on my Tumblr blog.
> 
> Title taken from Matthew 25:35.

It’s a Thursday night. Thirsty Thursday, according to the blackboard outside of Nervous Rex. Not that the students are in town this time of year. It’s all locals and folks off the highway. Half of those walk right back out after they see the rainbow flag. The other half are cruising.

Josh combs his fingers through his hair. His heart is fluttering in his chest. He runs his tongue over his teeth. They’re smooth. He brushed them before he left the apartment.

His mom always used to say things like “You never know when someone’ll fall in love with you, Joshy,” and he’s kind of stopped believing, but a habit’s a habit, and so he’s minty fresh.

Maybe he’ll order a mojito.

 

N-Rex is almost empty when he walks in, which means plenty of space at the bar. Josh picks a stool, glues his eyes to the TV mounted up in the corner by the ceiling, and waits for the bartender to finish talking to the guy over by the register.

“You know how to tend bar?”

“No, but I can wash dishes and keep things clean.” The guy’s lean and tan, like he spends a lot of time outdoors. Not young — mid-thirties, maybe a little older — but in pretty good shape and he’s got good hair. He’s in a t-shirt and shorts, and he’s got a battered blue duffel bag slung over his shoulder that matches his eyes. 

“Sorry, man. I’ve got a couple of guys for that already. Maybe in the fall.”

“Oh. Okay.” The guy’s brow creases and he nods. Josh can practically see the disappointment push down on his shoulders. “Thank you anyway.”

“Yeah, no problem.” The bartender turns, smiles at Josh. “Hey, buddy. What’ll you have?”

Josh glances at the guy by the register. It’s an accident that they make eye contact, and maybe he wouldn’t usually do this, but Josh figures it couldn’t hurt to do the guy a good turn. Maybe give him a ride somewhere. It’s not like he’s going to pick up tonight. Not really. 

“Two pints of Bully Wheat, one for me and one for him.” 

The bartender raises his eyebrow and shrugs. “Sure thing. Want to open up a tab?”

“Yeah, sure.” Josh pulls his debit card out of his wallet and hands it to the bartender.

He smiles, gestures at the guy to come join him. After moment’s hesitation, he does, dropping his duffel by the barstool before taking his seat. 

“Thank you.” He keeps his head down, but his eyes flick up. He’s almost…well, demure, maybe. It’s hot, definitely. And when the guy licks his lips, boy, it’s hard to look away. He wouldn’t mind kissing lips like that. Or other things. 

He swallows and holds out his hand. “Josh.” 

“Ca—” he starts, then coughs. “Excuse me. Steve.” 

“Where are you coming from, Steve?” 

He shrugs. “Kansas. I was supposed to go stay with some friends, but it…it didn’t work out. I suppose I’m looking for a place to try and, uh, settle.” 

“No family?” 

“It’s complicated.” Steve takes the orange slice from his beer and eats it, clearly relishing it. Like maybe he hasn’t seen fresh fruit in a little while. Like maybe he’s hungry.

Josh pulls his from the lip of his glass and holds it out. “Want mine?”

“Please.” 

Steve eats it. He nibbles at the peel a little, then abandons it. Definitely hungry.

“Hey, I don’t want to pry, but when’s the last time you ate more than those orange slices?”

He shrugs. “Around this time last night. I had some french fries.” He licks his lips. 

Josh looks him over, curious and maybe a little bit nervous. For all he knows, this guy is nuts, fresh out of prison, or a junkie. Maybe a combo of all three. He’s clearly homeless, and either hiking or hitching. 

He’s also too damn pretty, and the only weird vibe he gives off is like he’s maybe a little weird and shy, and Josh can relate to that, right? Why else would he be out here at N-Rex’s with his clean teeth, fresh briefs, and crushable hopes?

“Let me buy you dinner,” he says, maybe a little too eager. He kind of wants to kick himself for that, because Steve’s eyes go all wide and surprised.

“Um.” He swallows. “You don’t have to, uh…”

Josh puts his hand on one of Steve’s and strokes the knuckles with his thumb. “Hey, you’re hungry and I could eat. Plus, uh, I don’t know if anyone’s ever told you this, but you’re hot as fuck. You’d basically be doing me a favor.” 

Steve looks at their hands. He bites his lip, like he’s considering. “Okay.”

“Okay. Good.” Josh exhales, nods. “Grab your bag. I’m gonna go settle up our tab.”

* * *

They’re pulling into a parking spot at the diner when Josh decides to make the guy an offer. 

“So, uh, tell me if I’m out of line, but maybe I could do a little more than buy you dinner.”

Steve blinks and narrows his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, um,” Josh says, then sighs. “Look, it’s been a while for me, and you’re clearly in a tight spot, and I’ve got money.”

From his expression, it’s clear Steve doesn’t quite understand. 

“I’d like to pay you for, um.” He chuckles, runs his fingers through his hair. “I’d like it if you came home with me after dinner and stayed the night. You know, in bed.”

Realization dawns on Steve’s face. He tilts his head. “You’re asking if you can pay me for sex.” 

Josh’s hands feel sweaty on the steering wheel. His mouth is dry. His heart…shit, his heart’s going nuts. God, he must seem desperate. “Like, I said, I’m sorry if that’s creepy. I just thought—”

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“Yes.” Steve nods. “I think I’d enjoy going to bed with you, and I need the money. It seems like a mutually agreeable arrangement.”

“Wow. Uh. Okay.” He opens his car door and pushes it open. He walks into the diner practically on auto-pilot, he’s still so stunned. He’s never paid for sex before, and here he is picking up some random drifter and offering him money and, the guy is so weirdly nice and non-judgemental about it, and…

“Two tonight, sugar?”

“Yeah,” he says, and follows the waitress to a booth in the corner. Steve sits on one side. He sits on the other.

He orders waffles. Steve orders a burger and fries. 

“So before Kansas, where did you live?”

He seems to consider the question. “Lots of places. My…family, uh, moved around a lot.”

“You mentioned they were complicated.”

“My father was…absent.” The corner of Steve’s mouth tics up just a little, like he’s remembering something. “He left because he didn’t like his job, I think.”

“So you grew up with your mom?”

“Just my siblings. I had many.”

Josh swirls his straw in his ice water. “So what happened there?”

“I suppose you could say we grew apart. I also did some regrettable things. It’s difficult to make amends.” 

“Sounds like my family. I lost most of my mom’s side when I came out. That was almost fifteen years ago. It’s still hard to talk to my parents.”

“I’m sorry.”

Josh shrugs. “It’s fine. Like I said. It’s been a while. I got over it. Mostly.”

When their food arrives, Steve descends on his with obvious relish. He closes his eyes and practically moans when he bites into the burger. “This is very good,” he says as he chews. 

“Good,” Josh says, and enjoys the warm feeling of affection in his chest. He’s got no illusions — this is a hook-up, and he’s going to pay the guy for it — but this guy is just so freaky genuine, it’s hard not to smile.

They eat more or less in silence. Steve finishes his meal first, but he seems content to drink his water and sort the sugar packets by color.

“You want dessert?” Josh asks. “The pie here is pretty good.”

Steve shakes his head and lowers his eyes. “No thank you.” For a second Josh thinks maybe Steve is embarrassed, or doing that shy thing he was doing at the bar, but then he says, simply, “I have a friend who is very fond of pie.”

“The one from Kansas?”

He nods. 

For the first time in his life, Josh considers driving cross-country to punch someone in the face.

* * *

He hits the ATM during the drive home. Everything he could find online about how much to pay for sex is kind of ambiguous. “Is three hundred enough?”

Steve goes very still. “Um. Yes. That amount would be very helpful to me.”

Josh punches the numbers in. His hand shakes a little. He’s actually doing this. He’s pulling three hundred dollars out of his savings account so that he can have sex with a stranger. A stranger who really needs the money. A stranger who might only be having sex with him because of the money.

He reminds himself that Steve agreed, even before he knew how much was on offer. That Steve said he’d enjoy going to bed together. This is okay. They’re both adults. It’s illegal, but it’s not wrong. 

The machine chugs, pops the cash out in a neat stack of twenties. He passes them to Steve, who folds them in half and tucks them into his duffel. 

“Thank you.”

Josh tucks his wallet back into his jeans pocket. “Yeah.”

* * *

His apartment isn’t particularly impressive — just a cluttered, middle of the road two bedroom so he can have an office space that’s separate from where he sleeps — but Steve doesn’t seem to mind either way. 

“Could I shower?” he asks, sheepish. “I’ve been wearing these clothes for nearly two days, and—”

“Yeah,” Josh says. “Definitely. I, uh, have a washer and dryer if you’d like to do your laundry, too.”

“Yes. That would be very helpful.”

He shows Steve the laundry nook, and even starts the washer for him. Steve unzips his bag and pulls out a few articles — a hooded sweatshirt, a couple of t-shirts, a long-sleeved white shirt, some socks and underwear — then zips it back up. He loads what he has into the washer, then strips down to load the clothes he’s wearing as well, utterly unashamed.

Steve isn’t skinny. He’s solid, with strong-looking shoulders and thighs. His shoulders are sprinkled with freckles, and he’s got a mole or a mark above one of his nipples. He’s got a single tattoo — some kind of writing — on one side of his ribs. There’s a light dusting of hair on his chest and belly, with a trail leading down to the untrimmed thatch at his groin. 

He licks his lip and moves closer. “Would you like to shower with me, Josh?”

“Yeah.” 

“Good. I’d like that.”

Josh leads him to the bathroom, turns on the shower tap to get it warm, and begins to unbutton his shirt. 

Steve catches his wrist. 

“Please. Let me.” 

Josh watches as he undoes each button with the same precise intensity, like buttons are precious and strange to him. Steve doesn’t so much take the shirt off of Josh’s shoulders as he caresses him out of it, hands sliding under the fabric until it slides down his arms and onto the floor. He brushes his fingertips down Josh’s chest as he lowers himself into a crouch to undo his jeans. He grips the fabric at the thighs and pulls down until they slide off his hips.

It’s amazing to be undressed by someone so attentive to the act itself.

Steve’s fingers slide up his thighs and over the cloth of his briefs. Anticipation pools in Josh’s belly as Steve’s eager fingers trace the edge of the waistband from his hipbones almost to his spine. 

He slips fingertips under the waistband, then takes them off with an expression that’s hard not to read as reverence. When he stands, Josh presses their bodies together and pins Steve against the wall to kiss him, deep and desperate. He presses his hardening cock up against Steve’s hip bone and growls into his mouth.

“The water,” Steve gasps.

Josh practically drags him into the shower. 

To his credit, they do actually get each other clean. Okay, so some of of the scrubbing comes in the form of bodies rubbing together, but Josh really does want to take this to the bedroom, and there are some places soap shouldn’t go. He washes Steve’s hair and loves the frankly scandalous noises the guy makes when he massages the shampoo into his scalp. 

Steve is, to put it bluntly, responsive as hell. 

They towel off, more or less independently, except they keep touching each other. One of them will stand too close, or reach out a hand, or lean in to kiss a shoulder or an arm. It doesn’t stop in the bathroom; they keep contact with fingertips and shoulders and hands all the way into the bedroom. 

“You mind if I’m on top?” Josh asks, lips brushing against Steve’s collarbone.

“I can sustain your weight, yes.”

He laughs and pulls back. “Uh, Steve…do you…you know what I mean when I say top, right?”

The quizzical look on his face suggests otherwise. Worry springs up in Josh’s gut. “You’ve been with a man before, right? You like men?”

“I like men, yes,” Steve says, reaching out to run fingers down Josh’s arm. “I’m sexually interested in a variety of genders.”

“Okay, so you know that what I mean is that I want to be inside you, right? To fuck you?” 

“I…” Steve’s eyebrows go up. “That would be good. Yes.”

“You’re sure?” Josh wants to. God, he’s already hard from the shower and the touching, and Steve is hard too, and…well, there are parts of him he’s not proud of pointing out that the guy’s got $300 of his money. 

He’s still trying to figure out which way to go when Steve closes the gap between them and cups the back of Josh’s head. His kiss is like…like…well, it’s the sort of kiss that makes Josh lose his breath because it’s deep and Steve’s body is strong and pressed against his.

“Yes,” he whispers in Josh’s ear. “I want you inside me. Please.”

They ease onto the bed, kissing and teasing. Josh sighs as Steve’s fingers trace down his spine. He presses closer and grinds his cock against Steve’s belly, and is rewarded when Steve returns the favor against his thigh. He loves the mutual tease of it, hands and mouths going everywhere but their cocks, but he wants more. Needs it.

“Roll onto your belly for me,” he says, as he reaches for the lube on the bedside table. Josh kisses the back of Steve’s neck, the space between his shoulder blades, the place where the lumbar curve of his spine begins, the small of his back…

He spreads Steve’s legs a little wider, then lowers his head. Steve shudders at the first stroke of his tongue, almost like he’s surprised by it. He warms to the sensation quickly enough, though, moaning and raising his ass like the only thing he’s ever wanted in the world is to be licked open by Josh’s tongue. He teases with a fingertip and, fuck if Steve doesn’t move into it. 

“More. Please, oh fuck, please.”

“Careful, there. I still need to get you lubed up.” 

Josh slicks his fingers and then presses in with two. And wow, it’s tight, but Steve just opens up for him with a long sigh and a toe-curling “Yes.”

“God damn. You really love this, don’t you?” 

Steve’s answer is a stream of more and yes and please, and when Josh adds a third finger, it only becomes more incoherent. It’s like he’s found the switch that turns off Steve’s brain entirely, and it’s amazing.

He has to pull his fingers out to put on the condom. Steve’s whimper is gratifying, but it’s nowhere as good as the sound he makes when Josh slides inside with one slow, deep thrust. That sound practically rumbles the bed, it’s so loud and deep. 

“Is this good?” He asks. “You like this?”

“Yes. Oh fuck, oh yes.”

“You want more?” He grips Steve’s hips and thrusts. 

“More. Yes. Fill me up. Don’t stop.”

Josh gives him more. A hell of a lot more. He rides Steve hard, almost relentlessly, until all of his words stop being words and turn into pornographic gibberish. He clutches at Steve’s hips, his shoulders, any part of him that gives him leverage and angle. Every so often Steve will shake and grab the sheets, and Josh memorizes that spot. He tries to hit it every third thrust or so until both of them are sweat-slick and on the edge. 

“Need you,” Steve whimpers. “Need you.”

“Yeah?” Josh says, grazing the sweet spot and loving the way Steve shakes. He stays on it, pushing Steve higher and higher. “Want you to come. Want to feel you come.”

“Gonna. So close. Gonna, oh shit, gonna come, oh Dean—” 

He barely hears the name. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t. Whoever Dean is, he’s not here tonight. Josh is. He pounds Steve through his orgasm, and then past it, and then lets himself come, balls-deep inside. 

It’s the best thing he’s felt in months.

Josh slumps down onto the mattress beside Steve and tugs off the condom. Steve is already reaching for him when he rolls back over, and the two of them tangle together on top of the blanket.

* * *

Steve is gone in the morning when he wakes up. He’s not entirely surprised, but he’s also not entirely sorry. It’s easier not to get attached to someone when they’re not laying beside you in the morning. Still, he’d have liked to have more time with that body. Plenty of things to try with a guy like that. 

And yeah, maybe he liked him a (little more than) a little. Maybe there was a part of him that had hoped the Steve might stay. Like the night could have been a beginning instead of an end unto itself. 

_You never know when someone’ll fall in love with you, Joshy._

Yeah, there’s a reason he stopped believing.

He doesn’t find the note right away. He’s up and showered and dressed, chewing on a mouthful of bagel and cream cheese and tidying up when he spots unfamiliar handwriting in a spot that doesn’t quite make sense. He reaches for it, curious, and it doesn’t occur to him what the note is until he reads it.

_“Thank you again. For everything. I’m sorry I couldn’t stay. You were very kind and I enjoyed our time together. - S.”_

Josh runs his finger over the writing. He can just barely feel the texture of marks on paper. He wants to laugh at the absurdity of it — a thank you note for a paid one night stand — but it’s too perfect. Too spot on. Too exactly like the guy. 

He picks up a pen and writes.

_“Next time, leave me your number. - J.”_

He folds the note, tucks it into his pocket, and tries to smile.


End file.
